Cover structure



Aug. 25, 1936. A D JR 2,052,465

COVER STRUCTURE Filed June 15, 1935 Patented Aug. 25, 1936 rarest bi-i=1 C E "2,052 365 comma s'rnuo'nmm i rea iilinaruy,Ji-l;"Ironton,'Dhio V V inmicsueninne 15, 1935, ;Serial-3N0. i26838"il'l lClaix'us. (otter-ea) :Thisinventiondsa hinge for .:ooversofimeter casings, man= holes,"- an'd sinii-laristruotures.

One of the obj ects: of the invention is to provide: a hinge off-the'charaeter:=meiitioned-, so constructed that' the'parts may not='=-bedisengaged unless the cover -is moved tosan extremely abnormal position.Afiiurther obj ect is to -provide means to render'itimpossibleto movethe cover to such abnormal position" while =the kievice *is installed inthe posi'tion--which it =normally expected to occupy in use; Another-bbject -oi 'the invention is to" provide at hinge structure soconstructed that theiparts-tmay be easily: engaged or disengaged, atidl' before the tn'stallation thereof on the meter*easing, man -hble,orother simllar structura to whichitisito be applied. a rnother object-is to provide a-=hingestr'ucture of thebharacter mentioned;assooiatedwith means roelockingthe coveragainst pivotal movement.

"The invention will he hereinafter fiflly set'forth andparticdlarlypointd oht in the claims.

in the'iaccompanyingddrawing: I Figure 1 is a topi planwiew ofa'meteneasin'g, or the like,with the top-in'olosed pesition;

Figure 2' is an-enlarged plamview' illustrating "the hingesstructure; VH Figure 3 is a vertical sectional-view {thereof Figure 4' is a detail=-perspeo'tive v ew of *the} su port memberofthe hingeyand V Figure 5 isa-detail perspective yiew'of the timtle member. V l a a Referring to thedrawingiB =desig=nates a meter box; man hole brother"sirnilai'--structure preferably of "circular cross seotion,- andeonstructedbf tile, concrete, orothe'r' suitable material. --Embeddedwithin the oasing structure--is -'an= anchor member A, whieh -fonpurposes nf-illustrationis shown of arouate'torm-in plan'viewbutnofilirn- "ited to this-form; anlzl con'struttekifiwitlr two relatively'spaced parailel "flanges l0, joi-nd-- by='the grid- I sothat it may:beemboein tithe-wall in such manneras tdbe"rigidiv'heldinplace; I

Extending outwardly from the outer wall' lll of theanchor member-'A aretwo support arms l2, laterally spaced with respect to each other, andeach having a laterally and inwardly ofiset bearing portion l3, providedwith semi-circular seats M. Also extending from the outer flange H3, ina normal horizontal position, is a rigid lock member l5, having an outerfree end which is turned downwardly on an are having as its center thecenter of the arc of the semi-circular seats I; of the bearings l3, asindicated at IS.

The movable portion of the hinge consists of a. pintle l1 formedintegrally with supporting arms respect to 'the pintlet *a suitable holein the ground, -to such a depth 20 8, carriedby the cover "'C,-the endsof-the pintle extendin'g laterally beyond said arms" so as- -to rest androtate in the bearing seats I l. The pin- 'tle is also provided-with'oneo1 more enlargements I'l (twobeing'shown) having peripheral edgesconcentric' with the'-pintle,--and with the overhanging portion IBof-thelockmernber 15, It will be observed that the enlargements extend aroundthe pintle for something more than 180 deg r'ees, and terminate inshou1ders"- l9 and 20;:

" respectivelyywhich are arranged tangentially --with The arrangement issuch that the enlargements are always in engagement with the lock-member 1'5 andseats M' during nor- 'mal rotativainovement' 0f the ihinge, and may= 'not be disengaged until the" cover C has been moveddownwardly to a Vertical-positionapproxi- H mat'el'y para1le1==withthwall of the box- B.

In practice, the box B is norr'nally inserted into i while-"the cover is1 position, it will nor- "mally lie flush with the surface of' thesurrounding ground. -The hinge must be connected in "operative relationbefore the=box is-burie'd-as "above suggested. To -do"'this,-it is firstnecessary '-to place the cover in a horizontal position, as shown indotted lines at a in Figure 3. This "will bring'the shoulders of theenlargements parallel with the outersurfa'ce of the outside flange it).Then by' pushing the'hinge upwardly;

and rotating the cover downwardly, the pintle may bernovd upto aposition indicatedin "dotted lines at b, between-the-- support arms l2and baekarid above the plane of the 'bearings l3. 'At this timethestopwalls l9 of theen-M larg'ementsWill bear-against the undersurface"of the look member-J5. 'Ihemo'ver isthennioved toward-the dependingportion it of the'rigid lock 1 member until the extremities of 1 thepintle drop 'into the bearing recesses 34, as indicated "indottedi linesCFEigure S, whereupon by rotating "the 'cover to the right as viewed insaid figure arid iridicated 'by the 'dotte'diline "d, 'the-cover 'may be'moved toclosed position. Thereaiter, while the box is buried, theenlargements Il will permit rotation of the cover, because theirperipheries are concentric with the curvature of the overhanging portionI6 of the guard and with recesses I4, but it will never be possible tobring the cover to a position corresponding with dotted line position b,because the ground will interfere. Therefore, as long asthe box isburied, it will be impossible to detach the cover without breaking ordestroying the hinge.

It is preferred to provide the inside flange In of the support memberwith a locking lug H, which is engageable by a button 22 carried by astud 23, which is rotatively mounted in the cover, said stud having anangular head protruding through the cover, so that it may be engaged bya wrench, or other suitable tool for turning. The button bears upon acam 24, so that substantial pressure is brought to bear upon it as itengages the lug.

The advantages of the invention will be readily apparent to thoseskilled in the art to which it belongs. For instance, it will be obviousthat a very simple and inexpensive hinge is provided, which cannot bedisengaged unless the cover may be moved to a position which it isimpossible for it to reach while the partsare installed in operativeposition, so that disengagement of the cover is absolutely preventedunless.

the hinge is destroyed. A further advantage is that the parts are soconstructed and arranged that they may be readily and easily engaged anddisengaged before the box is installed in its operative position.

Having thus explained the nature of the invention and described anoperative manner of constructing and using the same, although withoutattempting to set forth all of the forms in which it may be made, or allof the forms of its use, what is claimed is:

1. A cover structure of the character described comprising a stationaryanchor member having bearing members projecting therefrom, a movablecover member having arms carrying a pintle rotatably mounted in saidbearing members, a lock member also extended outwardly from the anchormember at a position between the bearing members and provided with afree end overhanging said pintle, and movable shoulder means carried bythe pintle and concentric therewith, said movable shoulder means beingso positioned as to rotatively engage the undersurface of the rigid lockmember.

2. A cover structure of the character described comprising a stationarysupport member having bearing members projecting therefrom provided witharcuate seats, a movable cover memher having arms carrying a pintlerotatably mounted in said seats, a rigid lock member having adown-turned arcuate portion overhanging said pintle, and radialenlargements on said pintle concentric with and rotatively engaging thearcuate portion of said rigid lock.

3. A cover structure of the character described comprising a stationarysupport member having bearing members projecting therefrom provided witharcuate bearing surfaces, a movable cover member carrying a pintle whichis rotatively mounted in said bearing members, a rigid lock memberhaving an arcuate down-turned portion overhanging said pintle andconcentric enlargements carried by said pintle, said enlargements beingalso concentric with and rotatively engaging the undersurface of thedown-turned arcuate portion of the rigid lock member, said enlargementshaving shoulders arranged tangen tially with respect to said pintle.

4. A cover structure of the character described comprising a stationarysupport member having support arms extended therefrom, said arms beingprovided with laterally and inwardly extended bearing portions, amovable cover member carrying a pintle rotatively mounted in saidbearing portions, a rigid lock member projecting from the support memberand having an arcuate down-turned portion overhanging said pintle andconcentric therewith, and arcuate enlargements carried by said bearingportions at positions spaced from the ends thereof and normally locatedbeneath and rotatively engaging the arcuate down-turned portion of saidrigid lock member.

5. Acover structure of the character described comprising an arcuateanchor member having relatively spaced inner and outer flanges, supportarms projecting outwardly from the outside flange of said anchor member,said arms having bearings at their ends, a movable cover member carryinga pintle rotatively mounted in said bearings, a rigid lock memberprojecting from said outsideflange and having an arcuate portionoverhanging said pintle and concentric therewith, and arcuate shouldermeans carried by the pintle and rotatively engaging the underside of theoverhanging portion of said rigid lock member.

6. A cover structure of the character described comprising a stationarysupport member provided with an inner locking lug and with outwardlyprojecting bearing arms, a movable cover member having arms carrying apintle rotatively mounted in said arms, a rigid lock member having anarcuate portion concentric with said bearing arms and overhanging thesame, arcuate shoulder members carried by said pintle and concentrictherewith and also concentric with and rotatively engaging the arcuateportion of the rigid lock member, and means carried by said movablemember for engaging said lug.

7. A cover structure of the character described comprising an arcuatemember having inner and outer arcuate flanges arranged in parallelrelation, the inner flange having a locking lug projecting therefrom,the outer flange having bearing members projecting outwardly therefrom,a rigid lock member also projecting outwardly from said outerflange, amovable cover member having a pintle rotatively engaging said bearingmembers, arcuate enlargements carried by said pintle and concentrictherewith and also with said rigid lock member, said enlargementsnormally having rotative engagement with the underside of said rigidlock member, a stud rota- ..tivelymounted in said movable cover memberand carrying a button engage-able with said lug, and means for creatinga locking tension on said button as it is moved into engagement withsaid l i p FRED E. HARDY, JR.

